As a pacifist, I’m not really into explosive sounds that
remind me of gunfire or bombs going off, so fireworks don’t do much for me.
But this isn’t about me. This is about our canine friends. This past Sunday,
a nearby neighbor started setting off fireworks (in anticipation of
Independence Day, I assume), and little foster Chihuahua Sophia got a
stricken look on her face. She’s not into loud noises, either, whether from
fireworks or thunder. In fact, they terrify her. She was so scared that she
followed me from room to room even while I was vacuuming, which is normally
another sound that scares her.

I understand that people want to engage in festive
activities and that fireworks are exciting and thrilling, but really, they
are just a form of entertainment―nothing more. Whereas to wild animals and
to our canine friends, they sound like the end of the world. Dogs have been
known to run away, breaking through screen doors and even glass windows in
the process. Some dogs end up running into the road and getting hit by cars,
or they just go missing forever. Animal shelters report an increase in the
number of lost animal companions after fireworks events.

I was very pleased to hear California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger discouraging Californians from buying fireworks. PETA sent
him a letter praising him and suggesting that he go even further by
promoting laser and light shows as a humane but equally impressive
alternative to fireworks displays. Of course, his main concerns are public
safety and the fire hazard of fireworks. But it would be lovely to see
fireworks phased out of American culture altogether. I think the worst ones,
from the point of view of dogs, are the ones that neighbors persist in
setting off, because they’re SO close by. There’re only a few feet
separating your dogs from that ear-splitting noise pollution. So it goes
without saying that you should never, ever attempt to take a dog or any
animal to a fireworks display―just the opposite: Try to shield them from the
sound as best you can.

A close cousin to fireworks anxiety is thunderstorm phobia,
and many of the same safety principles apply: Make sure Fido is wearing a
collar or is micro-chipped just in case he should somehow get out and run
off, and never leave him outside. Let him go outside to do his business
before the start of the fireworks or the storm, if possible, so that he
won’t have to go out during all the scary racket.

•Some veterinarians will prescribe heavy-duty medications,
such as Valium, Xanax, Buspirone, or Anafranil, but there is a natural
supplement (available at any health-food store) called “melatonin” that can
be equally effective. Melatonin is a synthetically produced hormone used by
humans with insomnia to help them sleep. But in dogs, it can really take the
fright out of thunderstorms and calm them right down. The dosage is 6 mg for
100+-lb. dogs; 3 mg for 50-lb. dogs; 1.5 mg for 30-lb. dogs; and 0.5 mg for
10-lb. dogs. A very small percentage of dogs might have the opposite
reaction (excitement) when given melatonin, so test it out when there is no
sign of a thunderstorm in sight. Another option is the flower essence Rescue
Remedy for dogs who have a mild case of anxiety (also available at the
health-food store).

•Behaviorally, the most important thing that you can do for
Fluffy is to avoid “enabling” her, i.e., don’t validate Fluffy’s fears.
Contrary to the way we primates operate, if you comfort Fluffy in a
sympathetic fashion when she’s fearful, then she’ll feel that she’s right to
be scared, and her fears will just get worse and worse with each new
thunderstorm or fireworks event. Instead, you should go about your business
normally and interact with her in an upbeat and confident manner so that she
can see that there’s nothing to be afraid of. You might even give her a new
toy beforehand to distract her with. If you can get her to show the
slightest sign of calmness, such as wagging her tail, instantly give her a
luscious treat to reinforce that behavior.

A few years ago on the Fourth of July, right after I had
adopted Sunny and Dexter, I could see that both of them had the potential to
become freaked out by noises, so we spent that warm summer evening outside
on the deck and I clapped my hands and exclaimed, “Yay!!!” every time we
heard an explosion. I am not kidding you. I’m sure my neighbors thought I
was insane, but it worked and neither of them has fireworks or thunderstorm
phobia to this day.

•As for the dog’s immediate environment, muffling the sound
of the fireworks or thunder is very helpful. You can close all the windows
and either turn on some white noise, such as a fan, or put on some
canine-soothing music, such as the specially formulated music discussed in
and produced by the authors of Through a Dog’s Ear. With regard to the
lightning often accompanying a thunderstorm, some dogs do well if you turn
all the lights on to mask it, while other dogs prefer to have their eyes
covered. There is even a product called the “Calm Night Pet Hood” that is
purported to calm dogs down via sensory deprivation. And many dogs seek out
small rooms with no windows to hide in.

•And how about this? In response to a question about
thunderstorm anxiety, in his June 24, 2008, column, well-known veterinarian
Michael Fox suggests, “Wrapping a dog quite tightly in a thin towel or small
blanket can do miracles, giving anxious dogs a feeling of security. Cut an
old cotton sheet and get your dog used to being wrapped around the torso
like a mummy. This action can help many dogs cope with thunderstorms and
fireworks.”

•Dr. Nicholas Dodman, veterinarian and professor at Tufts
University and author of the books Dogs Behaving Badly and The Dog Who Loved
Too Much, has postulated that dogs are really freaked out by thunderstorms
because of a buildup of static electricity in their coats that gives them
periodic shocks. He says that this is why you will find that many dogs take
shelter in bathrooms with tile floors during storms. He suggests several
anti-static measures, including rubbing dogs down with anti-static laundry
strips, making sure dogs stay on tile or linoleum, or just putting them in
the car. All of these measures will keep the static electricity from
building up and shocking them.

Sometimes you just have to try different approaches and
combinations of approaches until you find out what works for your particular
dog. I noticed that Sophia does much better if I turn the lights on (when a
thunderstorm occurs in the middle of the night) and gets some comfort from
soothing music and massage, but melatonin didn’t seem to have the desired
effect on her. Recently, I was thrilled to receive this message from a
friend who has been battling thunderstorm anxiety in her dog for a long
time:

[We] have made it through two nights of thunderstorms
without a glitch! I can’t freaking believe it, but I pieced together
this part that worked a little and that part that worked a little, and
we’ve gotten it down I hate to jinx it, but those were the calmest two
nights of storms in almost four years. And one of them shook the house.
… As soon as [my dog] wakes me up, which is typically before I hear
thunder (I can tell what’s wrong by her state of panic), I praise her
for waking me up (just as if she were waking me to go out or for an
intruder), I turn on the overhead light to make it so bright in the
bedroom that she can’t see the lightning (and sleep with it on), I
calmly tell her we’re going to get her pill, she walks to the kitchen, I
give her 1.5 mg of melatonin, I put her in bed with me (she typically
refuses to sleep with me), I cuddle her close on one side and push a
pillow up to her close on the other side, I cover her eyes with a dark
T-shirt/towel and I pet/massage her and talk to her calmly until the
melatonin kicks in. She’ll peek out a couple of times, and I let her and
just tell her it’s OK. Then we both get to go back to sleep and she
doesn’t move until the storm is over! WOW!

Amazing. I was seriously at a loss for giving her any
comfort at all.

And some dogs are fine with thunderstorms and fireworks all
their lives and don’t have a single problem with them until they hit old
age, when something changes along with their hearing. This is what happened
to my sweet Koro. When she reached the age of 12, she suddenly developed
geriatric thunderstorm anxiety and would hide underneath the kitchen sink
when they approached.
As mere mortals who want to shield our beloved dogs from terror, there’s not
a lot we can do to prevent acts of God, such as thunderstorms. Fireworks, on
the other hand, are completely human creations and could be stopped
tomorrow.

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